Official Interview: Janet Leigh Green

[kandscreeley]

Today's interview is with Janet Leigh Green author of Unspeakable Acts which was book of the month in October of 2016.

To view the book on Amazon, click here.

To view the first official review, click here.

To view the second official review, click here.

To participate in the book of the month discussion, click here.

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1. What do you like to do when you aren't writing?

I love to read. I learn from my favorite authors, and I try to absorb different aspects of their writing styles that stand out for me. I love to play around with different things that I see and make them my own.

2. Who or what was your inspiration for getting into writing?

I have to say that Stephen King was probably my greatest inspiration. I absolutely love his writing writing style. I also love his mind, he’s my kindred spirit.

3. What has been the most helpful piece of advice you've gotten over the years?

I do not have a lot of the analytical / structural components in my brain. I am a conceptual / social thinker. I see the big picture, I know where I want the story to go and I am a pantser, so I just start writing. At the beginning I didn’t think I needed an outline. I was told by a very wise woman that I needed the outline even more to help me stay on track. I am amazed that I was able to finish Unspeakable Acts without that outline, but I did. I was harder than it should have been though.

4. Let's talk about your book Unspeakable Acts. This is a supernatural horror story with an interesting set of spirits. Where did you come up with the idea?

I have always been interested in ghosts, and anything supernatural. I love the show Supernatural too, so the boys, Doug and Scott were inspired by Dean and Sam. Charlie’s name was a salute to the show too. I loved that character, and was sad to see her go so I made my own Charlie. Haha. I manage a bank, and the building is old. There are noises here, that are just creepy. I was here alone on a few occasions, and I kept hearing these clicking sounds. It was just a click, click...then again, click, click. Then it would stop for a bit only to start again later. It sounded like an old doorknob being turned back and forth. I looked all over to try and figure out where it was coming from, but found nothing.

One morning I was sitting at home thinking about the noise, and I felt the same pull to write a book that I had felt for years. This time there was a sense of urgency that I couldn’t ignore. I sat down and started to pants out Unspeakable Acts. I had more than 80K words on paper in two months. I couldn’t stop. My husband would stop by my office and say, “Hey, babe, what are you working on? You’re really pounding those keys.” I would tell him I was just writing stories. I didn’t want to say the word “book” just yet.

5. Do you believe in ghosts? Along those same lines, have you ever experienced a haunting?

YES! I do believe in ghosts, and have experienced many unexplainable things in my life. I am convinced that the bank where I work is haunted, hence the creepy noises. We have heard boxes falling, but found no boxes. We hear doors opening and closing when no one is here but one or two of us, and we are together, so neither one of us can be the culprit. I used to work at a Burger King, and myself and a co-worker saw a ghost in the building early in the morning while doing inventory. He was an Indian, and stood staring at us for several seconds then disappeared. We found out later that the Walmart next to us experienced the same occurrences. Something about building on an Indian burial ground. Remind you of something? Haha. There Is a lot more, but if I keep going it will turn into Janet’s supernatural hour.

6. Was there anything that didn't make it into the final version of the book?

This is the second edition. There were problems with my first release. Bad editing, poor character development. I needed to do a rewrite and re-edit desperately. The first edition had an alternate ending, which wasn’t that much of an alternate ending. More of the same with stuff added in to make it longer. I scraped both endings and fixed it. I think this ending is much better. There is a lot more that ended up on the cutting room floor. There were a couple scenes that I added in the rewrite that I really loved, but just didn’t work and had to be scraped. I may use a variation of them in the coming books in the series.

7. This is the first book in the Yes series. Can you tell us a bit about what you are planning for the next few books?

This will be a four book series, at least so far. Book-1 of course, is Unspeakable Acts. Book-2 is called Despicable Witch, and I am 60K in on the first draft. I hope to get that one released end of this year first part of 2020. This book brings the team to New Orleans to help Viola, a witch from an ancient coven investigate the new high priestess. Book-3 is called Unquenchable Thirst, it will be a case surrounding nest of vampires in New Orleans. I’m staying in New Orleans for the remainder of the series because I love the creepy woo woo feel of it all. I know it’s been done, but I have a unique spin that I think the readers will enjoy. Book-4, Insatiable Hunger, will close the series, or will it? Still not sure. This is a demanding case for The McQueen team. They are tracking a pack of very angry rougarous, which is a fancy word for werewolves. I hope it will be an entertaining series.

8. Do you have any other projects in the works?

Yes. I want to write about my husband’s experience when he was saved. He has a powerful testimony, and I will work with him to write that book. I also have a psychological thriller in the works, based on true events surrounding my experience in my first marriage. My mother in law was a paranoid schizophrenic. A lot of drama there for sure.

How about a few fun questions.

9. What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?

Vanilla with fudge swirl. Hard to find around here, but yum!

10. If you could be anything in the world, besides an author, what would you do?

Sing! I got a part in a huge play in this area called “Texas.” I was going to sing and dance. I probably would have gone the broadway route, but I got married and gathered a lot of subject matter for a book. So, I guess writing was always it for me.

11. Are you a dog or a cat person?

Love them both.

12. What was the scariest movie you watched as a kid?

I can’t remember the name, my husband thinks it may be Frankenstein’s Daughter, but I don’t remember this scene being in that movie. I started watching horror movies alone at about age ten. In the movie there is a scene where a very pretty blonde woman went on a picnic with this man. After lunch, the man lay down on the blanket, using her lap for a pillow. Before you know it, she took a butcher knife and cut off his head! That image has stayed with me. My mom told me early on that I better not come crying to her about those movies or I couldn’t watch them any longer. So, I kept any fears I had to myself. Haha.

[gali]

I loved Unspeakable Acts despite the editing issues. I am glad to hear the errors were fixed and that a second book is coming. Good luck with both books and thank you both for the interview!

[kandscreeley]

@gali I love that the author took her reviewer's opinions to heart and made the book even better. That's what it's all about.

[C-obi]

Horror stories are not my favorites. But I will definitely recommend the book to horror story lovers.

[MrsPino777]

The interview questions were very fascinating! It was fun to know about the author's influences and how she was inspired to write and create her first book. I especially loved reading about her learning process. It was absolutely lovely! I enjoyed reading about her growth and the making of her book. It was amazing! I've decided to snag me a free copy of this book, for I love to read something that gives me the chills! Haha! Congrats to Janet Leigh Green for Book of the Day and I can't wait for the day when you release your new projects at hand (referring to Interview question number eight). I am highly interested in reading about your husbands powerful testimony and about your experience in your first marriage about your mother-in-law. It is more of my kind of read, for it is based on true events! Good luck and God bless!

[KDJ]

This was a fun interview. The entire series has great potential to be thrilling chillers, specifically book three, I'm all about vampires. Question five is interesting. Having actual supernatural experiences is a little scary to me, although I enjoy reading about them. Thank you for another inside look at the many wonderful authors.
Congratulations to the author on BOTD.